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[quote=Anonymous]There’s a Chicago fan who is just as crazy as the Chicago hater and together they make any UofC thread obnoxious.

Anyone who chooses a college based on how low an admissions rate it has (and since when) is going about this all wrong.  Ditto anyone who decides based on the volume of direct mail they receive from the school.

Here’s another approach — written for HS students.

If you want to make a rational decision about whether to apply to UChicago, ask yourself whether you want academics to be your focus in college, whether you want a Core curriculum that forces you and your classmates out of your comfort zone and constrains your course selection, whether you will like (or be willing to put up with) the fast pace of the quarter system in exchange for no work vacations and the opportunity to take more courses per year.  How do you feel about having to work hard for good grades and about getting some Bs even after working hard?  Are you comfortable around introverts? Are you excited and inspired by the opportunity to study with really smart professors and classmates?  Are you comfortable living in a major city and using public transportation even if you’re routinely outside the tourist zone and living in an economically and racially diverse neighborhood.

Unless you’re answering yes or “I’m okay with that” to most of these questions, UChicago is probably not the right pick.  If you are answering yes, then take a closer look, it’s a great school for someone like you.  Whether it’s the best school for someone like you is a different question. One aspect of that answer may well be financial and that’s worth figuring out/working through before applying.

The next hurdle is admissions and deciding whether/under what circumstances UChicago would be your first choice and what implications that has for whether you apply EA, ED1, ED2, or RD.  Choose EA if you have to compare offers, ED2 if your dream school is a different school and your dream doesn't come true in December, but UChicago is your second choice.  ED1 if UChicago is your dream school and RD if it’s one of a number of schools you’re interested in and if you are pretty sure you won’t regret having applied RD if you don’t get in.

How do you figure out whether UChicago is a first or second choice school for you? If the question arises in the context of deciding whether to apply ED1 or ED2 (i.e. whether to make a potentially binding commitment before knowing your alternatives), look at departments and faculty, talk to people you know (from school, sports, etc) who have chosen UChicago, visit if you can, look into summer programs (some free (Adelante), some expensive (RIBS)). Look at the Uncommon App and the marketing materials the school sends out and see whether your reaction is “this sounds fun” vs “wtf?” or “hmm, not sure I want to be surrounded by people who think this is cool.”  If you or your parents are concerned about campus safety or about career outcomes or graduate admissions, these things are pretty easily researchable on line. If you’re facing the “is this my top choice school?” decision post-acceptance (via EA or RD), try to make it to one of the accepted student events.  I think the school covers travel expenses if that’s necessary. And you get to meet potential classmates, which is an advantage over the pre-admissions overnights.[/quote]

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